Manicuring device



Oct. 27, 1942. c. J. HANSQQ I 2,299,819

MANICURING DEVICE Filed April 19, 1941 INVENTOR. CHQLMERS J: Hausa/v ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 27, 1942 ENT OFFICE g I. 21,299,s19 H ivtamcunmontvioa Chalmers JgHanson, San'Francisco,palif.' A Application-April :19, 1941, seam. 389,298

:4 Claims. The present invention relates .to manicuring devices, and particularly to, adevi'ce to benused during the application: of lacquer .or any decorative coating to the nails, for. the purpose of confining the coating to thenail, and .especially to that. portion of the nail which itfis desired to coat. l

The device of the present, invention may be generally described as amask adapted to cover the end of the finger, and expose. only that portion of the nail which itis'desired tol'coat, sothat the coating materialrmay be. applied freely without danger of its coming in contact with'theskin or cuticle.

In producing such a mask considerable difiiculty is encountered by reason of the great variety of sizes and shapes of finger nails, and by reason of the further fact that the curvature of the nailand of the adjacent flesh of the finger forms curves which make the use of a fiat mask or stencil entirely impractical. a It is further the object of the present invention to provide a manicuring device in the form of a masking member of such shape and construction that it will conform to the outline of nails of various sizes, so that a relatively small number of masking members, or a single member with relatively few apertures, will accommodate all normal sizes and shapes of nails.

The particular manner in which this object is accomplished, and further objects and advantages of theinvention, are made apparent in the following specification, which includes a detailed description of the accompanying drawing illustrating one form that the invention may assume.

I the drawing-- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a manicuring device constructed in accordance with the present invention, with a portion of the top or masking member thereof broken away;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation partially in section taken alon line II--II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in section, showing details of construction means employed for assembling the device.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the manicuring device comprises a bodymember [0 shown as rectangular in shape, but which may be made of any desired shape, and which is adapted to rest on a table to present a substantially flat upper surface. The top of the member 10 is provided with a plurality of recesses I I which are extended outwardly through the vertical edges of the member.

(or,1:92; 818.5) A

Eaclrof the recesses ii is of a size andshape comfortably lto receive the end of a finger,-and the recesses aregraduated in size to accommodate fingers of 1 different sizes. l

. overlying .the member I0 is a .top or mask member il2 which is preferably formed of a sheet of flexible material such, for example, as Celluloid or the. like, which may be readilycutand slightly molded, and will be'sufiiciently pliable to admit of. slight. adjustment of 'the size* of apertures formed therein, in a manner presently to. be

described.

These aperturesfshown at M, are of the general shape of that portion of a .nail which is usually coated, theirdistalrends terminating in a point i .l 5 to correspond with'thelcustomary. mode of filing the nails, and their proximal lends having an arc-shaped edge 16 corresponding to the position and shape of the lunule, which is customarily left uncoated. The apertures I4 are positioned one over each of the recesses II, and are graduated in size corresponding to the graduation of said recesses.

In order that these apertures will conform to the actual shape of the, average nail and form a mask surrounding the nail when the finger is inserted in the recesses H to effectively prevent coating material applied to the nail from being appliedto surrounding skin or cuticle, their edges, and particularly their elongated edges between the distal and proximal portions, are turned downwardly, as is best illustrated in Fig. 3. When a finger is inserted in one of the recesses H and pressed upwardly into registry with the associated aperture 14, these downwardly turned edges of the aperture come to rest between and divide the nail and adjacent skin of the finger and effect a separation thereof by a pressure sufficiently firm to prevent the coating material from running from the nail onto the flesh.

The sizes of the recesses H and apertures I4 are such that a relatively small number may be satisfactorily employed for universal use, as they are graduated between the largest and smallest nails likely to be encountered, and they are sufiiciently close to each other in size to permit of their adaptation through the medium of their slightly flexible downwardly turned edges to nails which vary somewhat from the exact size of the opening. While I have shown nine such recesses, it is contemplated that more or less may be used if desired.

The top member l2, in which the apertures M are formed may be secured in any suitable manner to the top of the member ll] although it is preferable that it be a replaceable member, and to this end I have shown it secured thereon by means of snap fastenings formed by projections I! on the top of the body member, which projections register with and are adapted to be received by perforations in the mask member l2, the perforations bein of such a size that they will, through the flexibility of the material of which the mask member is made, snap over the projections I! to retain the mask member in place against accidental removal, but permit of its removal for replacement if it becomes worn or unduly soiled.

In using the manicuring device of the present invention, the finger with the nail to be coated is inserted in the recess ll having the aperture most closely approximating the size of the nail, and is pressed upwardly against the bottom of the masking member l2 so that the aperture is.

brought into proper register and masking relation with the nail. The coating material may then be quickly applied without danger of its being applied to the skin or cuticle surrounding the nail; and the resultant effect is a uniform and neat appearance which may otherwise be obtained only through the exercise of great care and delicacy in the application of the coating material.

While the invention has been described in its application to the decoration of finger nails, it is of course equally adaptable to use in the treatment of toenails. Furthermore, it is not intended that the invention be limited by the present illustration and description, as its construction and arrangement may be varied considerably within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mask for use in manicuring nails which comprises a relatively thin sheet of material having an opening to expose the nail to be coated, and downwardly turned edges on said opening formed of a single thickness of said material to form close contact with the tissue surrounding the nail.

2. A mask for use in manicuring nails which comprises a thin sheet of material having an opening to expose the nail to be coated, downwardly turned edges on said opening forming relatively sharp edges to rest between and divide the nail and the tissue surrounding the nail,and means to support the finger with its nail in registry with the opening.

of the ends of the fingers, a masking member overlying said recesses and having an opening for each recess to expose the portion of the nail to be coated, said masking member being perforated, and projections on said block registering with the perforations of the masking member to for fastenings for holding the masking member in place on the block.

CHALMERS J. HANSON. 

